Cricket

South London Press

Club bats for Surrey

Aug 17 2004
By David Callam

A CHANGE of vista at the Vauxhall end will sweep The Oval, one of the world's best-known cricket grounds, into a different league commercially.

But Surrey County Cricket Club is not loosing sight of the sporting tenets on which its existing national success is based. The club may be spending £25m on a new stand that will provide, among other facilities, a conference and banqueting suite with a capacity of 900, but it will continue to play county and other games at Croydon and Guildford too.

Out-of-Oval appearances remain a crucial aspect of the club's appeal to large numbers of people who cannot or will not travel to Kennington to support their favourite cricket team.

Paul Blanchard, the sales and marketing manager, said: "Test match ticket sales and hospitality are still an important element of the club's income, as is the £1.2m contribution we receive from the English Cricket Board.

"Then there is our share of the advertising rights we have pooled with the other test match grounds across the country.

"This arrangement allows us to attract advertisers like Malaysian Airlines and Toyota to do lucrative deals for the international games that they might not have done with any one ground on its own."

Broadcast rights remain a good source of income too, as cricket continues to attract the second largest television sports audience - albeit a long way behind football.

And then there's the new stand at the Vauxhall end. The old one has already gone, replaced by some permanent new seating and temporary hospitality facilities for England's coming matches against the West Indies and India, and the Champions Trophy fixtures.

Between the close of this cricket season at the end of September and May 2005 a four-storey building will take shape on the site.

It will house the conference facilities, a community education area and further hospitality suites.

The work will be completed in time for the 2005 Ashes Test between England and Australia.

Mr Blanchard said: "The new stand will make The Oval a truly world-class venue and its proximity to central London will make it popular, we believe, with a wide range of additional customers.

"It will allow us to make proper use of the stadium throughout the year and give those who choose it a unique backdrop to their event."

But the club's position in the top flight of international cricket is not causing it to neglect the basics, indeed it believes a stronger commercial base will allow it to do more for the game at county level.

Mr Blanchard came to the club last year from Southampton, where he did a similar job for the city's Premier League football club.

He said: "Previously, I was in competition with the more glamorous clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea for the most gifted young players.

"Now I am in competition with every other sport - particularly football - for the hearts and minds of sporting talent in south London and Surrey.

"The club needs to maintain a high profile to make sure it attract the best - and one of the most effective ways to do so is to take the game to the people.

"So venues like Croydon and Guildford are very important to us, whatever we may be doing at The Oval.

"We can double our daily attendance at a county game simply by taking it out of Kennington.

"And we can change the topic of young people's conversation --just for a few days, maybe - from football to cricket and encourage them to follow the fortunes - and in the footsteps - of those who excel with a bat as well as a ball."

[ Previous | Next ]